Farm Update - November 2023

Since our last newsletter it feels like we have transitioned well and truly in to Autumn ... the cattle are back in the sheds, the clocks have gone back, the storms have been out in force, and the Christmas period seems to be creeping up on us at quite a pace.  

I'm sure it will come as no surprise that following consistently wet weather for a year now, the farm is pretty wet. Sadly the image above is a distant memory and the river meadows are entirely under water (see the image below), as well as much of the farm land further back from the river. The rainfall has been frequent, hard, and heavy, and there is simply nowhere for the water to drain when the water table is so high and the rain is falling frequently, consistently, and in such heavy bursts. 

The Environment Agency has been under significant scrutiny about nationwide flooding. Years of austerity measures has meant that basic maintenance work on watercourses has not been carried out, and this has been cited as a significant factor impacting farm flooding, and therefore domestic food security. There is push from the NFU and farming community for all political parties to outline their plans to protect farming businesses from flooding, and in our opinion it can't come soon enough! 

Being so close to the river means we always expect an element of flooding - the river meadows are for exactly that. We have learnt to manage this to a certain extent and plan our business and farming systems to suit - we only plant spring crops, we bring our cattle in during winter months due to the boggy ground conditions, and we plant over winter cover crops to utilise some of the water. But both nationally and locally the area of land this impacts seems to be increasing and time spent under water extending, often prime productive agricultural land, resulting in an increasing impact on food production. Lets hope for some drier weather over the coming months, and a clear, concise, and suitable plan from the government (we can live in hope!). 

Cattle

As mentioned above, all the cattle are now back inside the barns, enjoying the tastes of the homemade grass silage produced over the summer. Autumn calving is underway, and we welcomed 2 new happy, healthy arrivals last week. Only a handful more to go, as the remainder of the herd will calve in Spring. 

Following our last TB test we have received notification from the APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency) that our next test in December will be a blood test. As you may remember from our previous newsletters, this is the more sensitive type of testing that, in theory, should be a TB 'circuit breaker' - it takes large numbers, but generally clears the disease from the herd. It didn't work for us last time, but we have our fingers and toes crossed for an early Christmas present this year. 

Sheep 

Despite the wet weather the sheep remain outside. They're enjoying munching on the forage rape, fodder radish, and stubble turnip mix, and having been used to only grass they are now getting a taste for more variety in their diet. The field is wet in places, but there is enough high land for the sheep to remain fairly dry - although, thanks to the mud, they are definitely a sludgy shade of brown now. 

The first of this years lambs have now gone off to slaughter. This batch have been sold dead weight to a lamb processing company, opposed to live at a livestock market. This is the first time we have sold them in this way, but it worked out well, and is good to have different end markets to explore. We will continue to sell some of the lambs direct to consumers, and after Christmas we will have some for sale. Let us know if you would like any and we'll keep you posted on availability. 

We have more sheep coming to the farm later this week - 200 running ewe lambs will be joining the crew. These are lambs born last spring that are being kept to become breeding ewes, but are still too young to breed from this year. We have bought them, will look after them for approximately 12 months, at which point they will be old enough to be put with the ram. We will keep some to increase our flock size, and will sell the remainder to other farms for breeding. 

Farm Assurance 

A couple of weeks ago we had our Red Tractor farm assurance inspection, and I am pleased to say that we passed. This is an annual audit of our processes and farming practices, that ensures we meet the required food production and animal welfare standards. We are very proud of the way we look after our livestock, however as with all audits, a lot of this is about paperwork, evidence, and risk management, and so it is always a nerve-wracking experience. 

Whilst it is fantastic that farms and farmers are held to account and standards are kept high, there are some significant issues with this scheme for livestock farmers. For arable products, being farm assured is pretty much essential. Non assured grain is essentially unsaleable and commands a significant reduction in price, thus providing an incentive and added value to those farmers who go through the assurance process. For livestock farmers however, there is no price differential for assured or non assured livestock at the point of sale. This seems fundamentally wrong when those Red Tractor approved farmers are going above and beyond to meet and evidence their standards, whilst others don't do this yet command the same price. I am very involved with our local and regional NFU branches and am pleased to see ongoing campaigning to make a change to this.

Christmas Trees

We couldn't finish off our first Christmassy newsletter without mentioning Christmas trees ... once again we will be selling our beautiful, non drop, Nordmann Fir Christmas trees from our farm in Northmoor (Mrs F is fussy and even she thinks they are perfect!). We will be open from 25th November for those who want to come and see us (All day Saturdays & Sundays, from 3pm Wednesdays & Fridays), but if you want the easy life, just tell us what size tree you'd like, when you'd like it, and we'll deliver it to your door (for local customers only of course ... sorry!). To reserve your tree or book a delivery please email us.